A Liberal backbencher has accused his own party of vilifying asylum seekers, after Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison called for special ''behaviour protocols'' for those released into the community and the mandatory notification of police and residents in areas where they were housed.

Mr Morrison said the charging of a Sri Lankan asylum seeker with the alleged indecent assault of a young woman in a Sydney university dorm ''demanded'' an immediate suspension of the community release program and a review to determine new ''behavioural protocols … with clear negative sanctions for breaches''.

But Victorian Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent said there should ''never be special categories of laws for different categories of people … the rule of law should apply to all and we should not set some people apart''.

Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent. Photo: Craig Sillitoe

''This kind of vilification of asylum seekers is unacceptable in this nation,'' he said.

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Mr Broadbent is one of a small group of backbenchers who successfully demanded the softening of asylum laws during the Howard government.

Fellow Liberal backbencher Mal Washer told ABC Radio on Thursday that he thought the "thrust" of Mr Broadbent's argument was correct.

Illustration: Ron Tandberg.

"In this country what we want to ensure is that people of all ethnicity and religious backgrounds are treated equally under the eyes of the law," he said. "And we don't want to discriminate one from the other on that and there's a risk of doing that when you say those things."

He said he was sure Mr Morrison "didn't mean it that way" but that his comments could be misinterpreted.

When asked about Mr Morrison's call to notify police and neighbours about asylum seekers in their local area, Dr Washer said: "I don't think that achieves much in reality."

''If anyone is guilty of that, I would ask you to look at what the government has had to say about 457 visas," Mr Abbott said after leaving a university conference in Canberra.

Mr Morrison said the government had ''no idea'' where 8700 people released on bridging visas pending assessment of their refugee claims were living, and it was ''very reasonable'' to ask why asylum seekers were not released with reporting requirements similar to offenders released on bail.

''This is a wake-up call … this case has exposed the complete absence of commonsense safeguards,'' he said.

Mr Morrison said the behaviour protocols should be the ''terms and conditions of how one is expected to behave in the community'', similar to codes applying in immigration detention centres.

Service providers such as the Red Cross and accommodation services should be required to report any breaches, he said.

But the government said Mr Morrison was ''cynically exploiting an incident which is before the courts to cause fear and unrest in the community''.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor said people on bridging visas were required to report regularly to the Immigration Department. They were also required to provide their address and to report any move.

She said people underwent security assessments before they were released from immigration detention, although Mr Morrison claimed asylum seekers could be released before their identity had been established.

A department spokeswoman said that of the 12,000 people who had been released on bridging visas since November 2011, when the program began, only a ''small handful'' had been charged with offences. The department could not specify what those offences were.

Based on 2011-12 statistics, most of the 8700 asylum seekers currently on bridging visas are refugees. In that year, about 90 per cent of boat arrivals were later found to be refugees.

Barrister Greg Barns, spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, said his organisation was concerned about the ''fear campaign'' being run by Mr Morrison, "which implies that there are large criminal elements among asylum seekers, which is just not the case''.

Mr Barns said he had acted for many asylum seekers in the area of refugee law. ''Interactions by asylum seekers with police around Australia are few and far between,'' he said, and were ''usually very low-level stuff''.

9 comments

If you are applying for assylum without having a passport and therefore no way of checking your background, then you should be under a special behavioural contract. We prevent people with severe criminal backgrounds from passing immigration at airports because their documentation allows immigration to see if they have a criminal history. No documentation, special rules!

And that cartoon is nothing more than dog whilsteling itself...

Commenter

Act Rationally

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 7:58AM

+1. Right on the money. If you enter this country without any paperwork (what have you got to hide?) you are a potential threat and your every move should me monitored. And am sick of hearing it has only been one incident - one incident that was trying its best to be swept under the carpet. Try telling that to the victim - if I was her father I would be out wanting some butts kicked and heads rolling.And please stop playing the racist card, I do not care where you are from.

Commenter

DennisV

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 8:18AM

Funny that Bridging Visa E application requires a passport number and residential address. Get your facts straight before you claim you are acting rationally.

Commenter

adg

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 9:21AM

DennisV, regarding "wanting some butts kicked and heads rolling", while not racist, declaring a difference in laws based on the citizenship status of a person is discriminatory and prejudiced and is just as bad as declaring a difference based on the colour of their skin. You're still a bigot.

Or you could follow up the requirements for a bridging visa before commenting next time. You could find out that there is paperwork, passports and registered addresses involved. In that case you're probably just ignorant. Good for you.

Commenter

adg

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 9:41AM

Of course you won't find misbehavior in Australia before they receive their settlement. Once they do though, they know they are safe as houses and do not need to "to the line" anymore. Maybe Broadbent could do Australia a favour and leave the LNP and join the Greens.

Commenter

Wait till Later

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 8:17AM

If a person is on a bridging visa and breaks the law then their application for PR will most likely be unsuccessful. Therefore, the existing system is cruel enough. There is so much pressure on these people to behave that another contract is unnecessary.

PS nice to see a political party where people feel safe to voice alternative opinions. Lets vote Liberal and change the government.

Commenter

Terrarocks

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 8:19AM

"Alternative opinions" such as these are not courageous, they are cowardly and driven by fear.

Commenter

adg

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 9:06AM

We already have a behavioral contract... We generally refer to it as "the law". It is underpinned by "the constitution". This garbage from Morrison sounds like an Orwellian nightmare.

Commenter

adg

Date and time

February 28, 2013, 9:04AM

Surprise surprise - obviously the politic of fear is continued and nurtured by the LNP - what's else can the LNP bring to the table other than vitrifying any asylum seekers turn up on this country door step. As a former political asylum seeker myself I do feel for the current crop of refugees and I am sure given sufficient time and understanding they too will contribute to this great country. They are after all like the Eastern Europeans, the Middle Eastern, the Vietnamese before them they will make their marks and in turn enrich this country of our. There are so much miserable and hardship all over the world, millions up on millions displaced people through no faults of their own - have a heart - we can afford to be charitable and act like true human being.